You're a Watcher?
by mmooch
Summary: Some minor costume alterations causes some interesting changes – especially for our favorite Watcher and Slayer. WARNING: Some character deaths.


**You're a Watcher?**

Summary: Some minor costume alterations causes some interesting changes – especially for our favorite Watcher and Slayer. WARNING: Some character deaths.

Timeline: Season 2, during episode _'Halloween'_.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Sherlock Holmes characters belong to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Warning: Some character deaths. Hopefully you'll understand why.

A/N: Thanks to zigpal and AshDawnSoulmates for betaing.

A/N2: Once the name of the person in costume is known, I will be switching to those names for the purposes of dialogue. Sorry for any confusion this causes.

A/N3: Also, for those characters who know each other – and only them – they will 'see' the appearance that character, not the person wearing the costume. Same goes for if the character looks at their own reflection. (For example, Xander will see the person whose uniform he is wearing.)

But if somebody else sees them, they see the person – except in the case of them turning into a creature. (For example, Willow sees Xander, not the person whose uniform he is wearing.)

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**Sunnydale High School**

"You really chose that for Giles?" Willow asked, looking at the costume Buffy was holding.

Which made Buffy look at it again before she defended her choice, "I thought it was the _perfect_ costume for him. Only wish I knew who has the matching costume," she added softly, almost to herself. Not that _she_ would have worn it, but still--

"I still can't believe that Snyder is making Giles help with the trick-or-treating," the redhead declared. Their principal was an absolute tyrant!

Xander nodded his agreement, "That guy seriously should be on the Buffster's slay list. _No_ human can get that much happiness from making others suffer."

Buffy laughed as she replied to the hopeful tone in her friend's voice, "Yet sadly, he doesn't set off my spidey-sense. Listen, I gotta take this to Giles. We'll meet at my place at 5:30?" she checked, turning to head to the library.

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**Buffy's house**

**A couple hours later…**

"So, we're just waiting for Giles to show up and we can go. Oh! I gotta get some _stuff_ from my footlocker upstairs. If he gets here before I get back, wait before you say anything about his costume. I want to hear your reactions," Buffy called over her shoulder as she started up the stairs.

Xander quickly looked around for Buffy's mother, then quietly asked, "You really need 'stuff'? I thought G-man said tonight was supposed to be quiet for you."

Buffy just shrugged in response, "Yeah, but I should be ready in case one of them didn't get the memo."

Cringing, Xander gave her the puppy eyes, "In that case, would you mind…?"

"Sure. Water canteens and crosses all around. Anything else?" the Slayer inquired, looking at both of them.

Willow thought for a second, then replied, "Nope. That sounds good. Thanks, Buffy."

The blonde Slayer was already back and had handed out the items when the doorbell rang a few minutes later.

"Ahh, it's the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes!" Buffy proclaimed to the room as she stood back to let Giles enter.

Giles glared at her introduction. "I knew I shouldn't have asked you to pick out my costume."

And that made Buffy pout. "What's wrong? It's perfect for you – a super smart Englishman," she flattered him.

"Who took addictive drugs like cocaine," Giles added dryly.

Xander's eyes went wide with surprise. "Really? Holmes was a druggie?"

"He _used_ drugs," Giles clarified. "Whether he was addicted…I suppose that's a matter of perspective."

"Didn't stop him from being the smartest person around," Willow pointed out.

Buffy bit her lower lip and apologized, "I'm sorry, Giles. I didn't know about the drug thing."

Seeing the sincere hurt on his Slayer's face, Giles caved. "No. I over-reacted. Thank you for thinking that I reminded you of him."

"Well, you're all knowledgey and everything," she explained with a bright smile.

"Yet I cannot get you to stop mutilating the English language," Giles retorted, pretending to be annoyed. Although their speech was difficult to interpret at times, he truly was beginning to care for his charge and her friends – even the annoying aspects.

"Brilliant deduction!" Xander declared. When everyone looked at him like he grew a second head, he muttered, "Sorry, just had to say it."

Willow just shook her head, then reminded them, "We'd better go before Snyder decides to sign us up as volunteers for the rest of the year's community projects."

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**After the spell activated…**

The ghost of Willow ran over to her best friend, calling for him as she did, "Xander. _Xander_! We need to find Buffy. Something Hellmouthy happened."

The person in question though, looked as if he didn't know her. His words confirmed that suspicion, "Sorry, missy, you have me confused with somebody else. My name's Rory Harris."

"Xander's uncle? Umm, you need to come with me, Rory," Willow tried. They needed to figure this out before something bad happened to anyone…well, anyone _else_.

Rory/Xander shook his head, "No can do, pretty lady. I'm about to go on R&R. What I need to do is find a nice bar to unwind in. Maybe get some company of the female persuasion. You take care. And watch out for these trick-or-treaters. I can't believe how real their costumes look."

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**Meanwhile, someplace else…**

Buffy shook her head to clear her mind. When she spoke out loud, her voice suddenly had a soft French accent, "What sorcery is this? I need to find John; he will know what has happened."

She started calling for him. But before she found him, she came across the warehouse that Spike and Drusilla were holed up in. Knowing she had a duty to perform, she got her weapons ready, then cautiously entered.

An impossibly bright yellow-haired vampire smirked when he saw her enter. "Why look who it is…and she's come right to us. So nice of you to come alone, Slayer," he said with a leer.

"So you know who I am?" Buffy wondered at that. She was trying to place the descriptions of the beasts in the room with her.

At that moment, Drusilla started keening from the side of the room, "Oh, the stars cry out to me. The light Daddy wants to bathe in has two faces."

Spike fought to keep from rolling his eyes at the nonsense Dru was spouting. "Right, luv," he commented absently, then turned back to Buffy as he figured out her words. "Wait! _You _know who you are? Damn that wanker! He swore you wouldn't!" he growled under his non-breath.

Although she was confused by the situation, Buffy hastened to confirm her identity, "I assure you, vile one, I am quite aware that I am Marie Duquesne, the vampire Slayer."

Spike's shoulders slumped. "I can't believe that you have forgotten who you are, but still managed to luck out. Guess I'll just have to get my 3rd Slayer this way instead," he snarled as he stalked her way.

Snorting, Marie/Buffy retorted caustically, "You may try, but you will not succeed, vampire."

After a short, but vicious fight, Marie drove the stake through Spike's chest. Then she swung her arm back to take care of Drusilla who had screamed in fury over the loss of her mate as she was about to attack from behind.

Marie brushed off the dust while she surveyed her work. "Good. That takes care of the younger pair of the Scourge. Now I just need to locate the other pair. They are bound to be nearby. I hope I can find John first; Darla and Angelus are more dangerous, and I will likely need his assistance to defeat them."

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She went a few more blocks before she found her Watcher. During that time, she staked a handful of fledglings and saw a bunch of demons running around. The problem with those demons was that they didn't cause her senses to go on alert like they usually did.

"John! I fear my abilities are fading!" Marie cried out as she flung herself into his arms.

Holding his lovely Slayer, John questioned her, "What is the matter, Marie?"

Marie pulled back just far enough to look in his eye. "I can feel the vampires, but not the demons," she explained.

"What did you do with these demons?" her Watcher inquired, wondering what could have caused this anomaly. Marie was one of the best Slayers at sensing demons.

"After I rendered them unconscious, I bound them with whatever material I could find," she answered, hoping that he would not be disappointed in her course of action.

John gently kissed her lips before reassuring her, "Do not worry, my darling, I am sure there is nothing to be concerned with." Then he had a dreadful thought. "But we should see where Holmes has gotten off to. With all the demons running loose, I fear for his safety. Oh, what providence, there he is. Holmes! Over here!" he called out to his friend and colleague.

Holmes/Giles darted across the strange roadway to join his companion. "Watson, old boy! Ghastly night, is it not? And who is this charming woman? Your mysterious lady friend, perhaps?" he guessed. He knew that there was something going on with Watson and had been for the past several months.

Watson blushed slightly at the implication of Holmes' words, knowing that he was somewhat correct. The only part Holmes didn't know was that the reason he met Marie in the first place was because she was his Slayer. Falling in love with her was just a bonus in his case. "Yes on both accounts. Allow me to introduce Miss Marie Duquesne. Marie, this is Sherlock Holmes," he told them both with pride.

Bowing over the young woman's hand to give it a kiss, Holmes chuckled at the possessive growl his friend gave. "It is indeed a pleasure to meet you, Miss Duquesne," he commented charmingly.

"You as well, Mr. Holmes. Please call me Marie. John says that you are quite brilliant, and coming from _him_, that is saying something," Marie replied, looking at her Watcher lovingly. Holmes might be the best detective in the world, but her James was the best man and Watcher.

John blushed again, cursing himself for acting like a schoolboy. "Thank you, Marie. Now we need to ascertain what has happened. Something strange is going on here – wherever _here_ is," he added in confusion.

"Well, a logical place to start would be to find a newspaper. That should tell us our location," Holmes said with his usual confidence.

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**A short time later…**

Holding a stack of papers, Holmes declared, "How intriguing! According to these papers, we must be somewhere in the United States of America. Most likely a town called Sunnydale. Even odder, we appear to have gone forward in time – approximately 110 years to be precise."

Marie was stunned by the detective's conclusions. "I kind of understand the time part, but how did you figure out the town?"

Turning to the young woman who had entranced his companion, he smiled graciously as he explained, "Elementary, dear Marie. The thicker newspapers clearly are meant to cover a regional area. Since the Sunnydale newspaper is the thinnest, the logical explanation is that it would be the most local paper."

Used to Holmes' deductions, Watson tackled the more interesting part of his earlier claim, "I am surprised, Holmes. You seem to have accepted the concept of time travel much easier than I had anticipated," he remarked, the question clear in his voice.

Holmes only shrugged though, "Given the two possibilities, it is the more reasonable explanation of what has happened. The surroundings and people are far too elaborate to fake. And even if they were not, the question would remain: why would anyone want to convince us we were in the future if that were not the case?"

"But why would somebody _send_ us into the future?" Marie asked, slightly more impressed with Holmes now.

Taking his pipe and preparing it for a smoke, the detective launched into his hypothesis, "The way I see it, there are three possibilities: the first – which seems unlikely – is that it was simply an accident on someone's part. I admit I do not know the first thing about magick, but if it follows any scientific formula, this would require a lot of power to accomplish. Somebody with such power would likely take care to ensure the spell worked the way they intended it to."

"The second option also seems doubtful: that the magick user needed all three of us out of the way in the past. If getting rid of us were the goal, no more than 20 years should have sufficed," he theorized, talking around the pipe in his mouth.

Holmes shook his head, "No, it is the third option that is the most sensible: that we were needed at this particular place at this particular time, and have been summoned here by the magick user. I would suggest trying to locate that person to find out why."

"I agree, John," Marie chimed in. "I have already encountered the younger members of the Scourge of Europe. At least they matched the descriptions," she quickly clarified.

John looked concerned and checked his Slayer out again for any injuries he might have missed before. "You faced William the Bloody and Drusilla the Seer? What happened?"

"There was something strange about it. William knew that I was the Slayer, but was troubled that _I_ knew. When I mentioned my name, he thought I had lost my memory." She shrugged off the recollection to continue, "After I was able to stake him, Drusilla went into a rage and attacked. Since she was behind me at the time, I simply swung my stake back without looking." Seeing her Watcher's look of displeasure, she added, "I know that I should have turned around, but I believed it would take too long. I only expected to make her back off long enough to face her."

"I am pleased that it worked out the way it did, my dearest. Just be careful not to rely on luck too often, please?" he begged as he pulled her in for a hug.

Marie welcomed the embrace and whispered in his ear, "I promise, my heart."

"Vampires? Stake?" Holmes gasped out, wondering just how much his world had just changed.

"I will explain as we look for the magick user who summoned us," Watson promised. Then he considered something his Slayer said when they first met in this strange place. "We also need to search for materials we can use to bind demons. Until we know for sure what is happening here, it is best if you rely on your sensing ability, Marie. I just remembered an entry from a past Watcher's Diary that mentioned a sorcerer who turned a person into the form of a demon. Unfortunately, it was not discovered until after the person was slain and reverted back. The Slayer in question said she didn't 'feel' the demon, but dismissed it for her visual sense. Since you are so strong at sensing, perhaps that is why we were summoned."

They made their way through the streets of Sunnydale. Watson explained about demons and Slayers as they watched Marie give a visual demonstration of a Slayer in action. She felt for the demonic essence before she chose to slay the creature.

If she didn't feel one, she simply knocked the creature out, and the men quickly bound it. Of course, if she did feel it, then she slayed them.

There was only one time where she was unsure. Oddly enough, it was a vampire that caused her to pause. It matched the description of Angelus, but there was no sign of Darla nearby. The other puzzling thing was he kept calling her 'Buffy'. She brushed it off as an attempt to confuse her though.

Once she knocked him out, she tried to sense Darla, but was unable to find her. Then she explained to her Watcher that she felt the demon in the vampire, but it was not as prevalent as the other vampires she encountered that evening.

Knowing the danger this particular member of the Scourge presented if left unharmed, John agreed with her desire to get rid of him. There would be time to research the reason for the muted essence later. Once he disintegrated to dust, they continued on their way.

At first, Holmes was astonished by Watson's recitation. Then he recalled seeing these creatures before; only, he dismissed them as hallucinations brought on by the drugs he occasionally took.

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**Outside **_**Ethan's**_

As they passed an unusual clothing store, Holmes noticed the man inside. If this was the magick user that brought them here, it was doubtful he meant to. The expression on his face was not that of somebody happy to see them, but one of fear at their presence.

Abruptly stopping, Holmes called to the other two, "I think our answer lies in this shop. The proprietor seemed quite agitated to see me. We may need to be prepared for the possibility that he really didn't intend to draw us here after all."

"There is only one way to find out," Watson answered as he opened the door to the shop.

Ethan looked up in fear when the trio found him in the back room. "Ripper, mate! Good to see you. Don't suppose you're happy to see me?" he said hopefully while looking at the detective.

The name he used puzzled Holmes though. "Ripper? As in 'Jack the Ripper'?" he questioned.

That caused Ethan to smirk, "This is too perfect, you changed into Holmes! Then why are you still with blondie over there?" he asked, pointing to Marie.

John glanced at his raven-haired beauty in confusion. "Marie? She is not blonde. Anyway, she is with us because she is my Slayer. Marie, this is a sorcerer; probably the one responsible for the predicament we find ourselves in. And judging by the set-up in here, that would be his altar. Janus? The god of Chaos? What did you hope to accomplish with this spell?" Watson demanded.

"That should be obvious…_chaos_," Ethan shot back, having missed the comment about 'Marie' being a Slayer.

Holmes dismissed the reason, only concerned about the outcome, "It does not matter. Reverse the spell now," he demanded.

Ethan snorted at the not-Ripper man, "I don't think so, mate."

"I do. Or else Marie will have to slay you. _That_ should end the spell," Watson theorized correctly.

Finally Ethan caught the words of Holmes' sidekick. "Bloody hell! She wasn't supposed to be a Slayer; she was supposed to be a simpering noblewoman! And she can't kill humans!" he hastily pointed out in alarm.

"Says who? Besides, you are a sorcerer, not a regular human. Sorcerers endanger the world just as much as demons, therefore they are subject to the same punishment. Now, reverse it!" Watson ordered coldly.

As soon as Ethan complied, Holmes-now-Giles nodded to Marie-now-Buffy who promptly knocked the chaos mage out cold. They gagged and bound him until they decided what to do with him. Even though Watson said Marie could kill a sorcerer, Giles wasn't willing to ask that of Buffy at the moment.

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**Sunnydale High School Library**

**Later that evening…**

The young man who dressed as Watson followed along as Giles took a crying Buffy back to the school library. She was heart-broken that she had slain Angel because she was well on her way to falling in love with him.

However, on the other hand, she remembered two things from her time as Marie: most importantly, Buffy recalled that the truly innocent beings she encountered when she was the other Slayer didn't have _any_ demonic essence in them, but Angel did. She kept forgetting that because he didn't feel like other vampires to her. Like Spike and Drusilla, she remembered with a smirk.

The other thing she considered was her feelings for her Watcher – _Marie's_ Watcher, not Giles. Apparently there was something going on between them, despite their age difference. And she had to admit, the real person was more attractive than the costume version. As well as being her age.

"So…demons and Slayers are real," the young man with blue-highlighted hair commented calmly.

Giles set his costume on the counter to take a closer look at the person who was inhabited by a past Watcher. "Uh, yes, they are. And will you be able to handle this…?" he prompted him for a name.

"Oz. Sure, that's no problem. This explains some stuff then," he replied with a shrug.

Buffy was finally able to place where she had seen him before. "Wait! You're in that band that plays at the Bronze, right?"

Oz simply nodded, "Dingoes ate my baby. Well, since I have the memories of a Watcher, you need any help?" he offered, not wanting to leave the person he sort of remembered as his Slayer – the woman he loved. He had been noticing a girl around school lately, but his memories of Marie overshadowed those thoughts.

Polishing his glasses before putting them on, Giles declared in his research voice, "Remarkable! We all retained the memories of our costumed counterparts."

"I sure hope that isn't the case for everyone. Or maybe we can count on the Sunnydale syndrome to take care of that for us. People tend to repress stuff they can't handle – especially Hellmouthy stuff like tonight," she said to Oz.

"Makes sense," Oz agreed. "I probably would have if I hadn't been a Watcher. So, what are you going to do with that Ethan guy?" he asked.

"I've called a coven, and hopefully they'll be able to bind his powers so he can't do this again." Giles sighed, "This really had the makings for a full-scale bloodbath. If Buffy hadn't added those weapons to her costume, she very well could have died tonight. And if the demons hadn't been bound, who knows how many innocent people could have been killed. Whether he intended it to be or not, this was a malevolent spell, and Ethan needs to pay for that," he finished, somewhat hurt that his old friend had gone so far in his need for mischief.

Knowing that she would need to talk to Giles about this when they were alone, Buffy tried to cheer him up, "On the plus side though, Spike and his crazy lady friend are dust now."

"But at the cost of a good ally and friend. I'm sorry for that, Buffy," Giles said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Fighting the tears in her eyes, Buffy replied bitterly, "I'm glad _you_ are because I know Xander will have a hard time containing his glee when he finds out."

A hint of Ripper showed in Giles' eyes as he promised his Slayer, "I'll warn him not hurt you anymore by acting like that in front of you."

Buffy just shrugged, "You can try, but you know that it will slip out. He may not mean to hurt me with the comments, but he does anyway. Right now though, I'm going to grab a sappy movie and a giant tub of ice cream and eat away my sorrows."

"Do you mind if I join you? I know Marie the Slayer, but I'd like to know _Buffy_ the Slayer, too," Oz asked shyly. He wasn't sure what they were talking about, and he knew that she was obviously distraught about something, but he couldn't help the mixed feelings of him and John.

"Sure," Buffy agreed, guessing Oz's motives and wanting to know him better as well. She didn't want to deal with losing Angel right then. "See you Monday, Giles."

"Call me when you've finished your patrolling over the weekend. Or if you need to discuss tonight," Giles offered kindly.

Buffy nodded as the pair made their way out the library doors. Giles managed to hear her question through the swinging doors, "So, Oz, what do you remember about Marie and John's relationship?"

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A/N: Just another bunny that slipped into my Musie's playground of a mind. Since it's the Halloween season, I decided to let it roam free.


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